How to play Blues Rhythm Guitar like the Blues Masters
                          Antony Reynaert
                    www.BestBluesGuitarLessonsOnline.com
                      copyright (c) Guitar Mastery Solutions 
                  Contents
                  !         Introduction: How to think like a blues guitar master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
                  I. Expanding your Rhythm Guitar Playing
                            A. How to transform your basic blues riffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
                            B. Combining Riffs & Chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
                            C.Riffs based on the Blues Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   
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                  II. Creativity Exercises
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                            A. Making you Rhythm Guitar Playing sound more ‘Interesting’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
                            !          Creativity Exercises for Rhythm
                            !
                            !          Creativity Exercises for Dynamics
                            B. Expanding your Rhythm guitar self expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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                            C. About Inspiration: what to play if you don’t know what to play . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
                                !      Performance Tips
                  III. Tablature Examples
                            A. Example 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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                            B. Example 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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                  About the Author
                                                                 copyright (c) Guitar Mastery Solutions 
      Introduction: How to Think like a Blues Guitar Master
         Do you know the feeling when you are requested to ‘play something’, whether being 
         called out by a family member or at a jamsession? Do you often feel that you don’t 
         know what to play or that you repeat yourself far too much, when confronted with 
         such a request?
         When you watch the blues masters play, they are having fun on stage. They seem to 
         be performing from a place within themselves that is free and careless. A place 
         where they don’t have to think ‘what to play’ anymore.
         Perhaps you think that you should be born with some kind of natural talent and that 
         you probably don’t possess this talent. The truth is that the masters of blues guitar 
         aren’t born with this talent. They just knew how to attain that level in their guitar
         playing by exposing themselves to the right exercises and activities. 
         If you want to play just like the masters, you have to learn how to get to this level of 
         mastery yourself.
         There is one very important thing that all people who ever attained mastery have 
         in common; they consciously or subconsciously know how to make use of 
         ‘application’ when they practice. When they learn a new lick, chord or concept they 
         immediately start to apply the information they’re learning.
         Blues masters always practice for mastery. They do this by practicing application. It 
         may almost sound to good to be true, but it’s that easy; if you want to master your 
         instrument, you have to practice in a way so that over time you will attain this kind of 
         mastery.
         A lot of people nowadays search the internet for guitar tabs, which is great. But you 
         have to understand that these tabs are only a means to an end, some are even 
         incorrect. Blues masters didn’t rely on tablature when they learned how to play. They 
         listened to the music and applied what they learned, instead of jumping from one tab 
         to the next. In this ebook we will use tablature as a way for you to grasp the concepts 
         and try them out yourself, but remember that tablature isn’t written in stone, it’s just a 
         way to communicate what is being played, but in the end you should listen to the 
         music. Let me repeat the above statement again:
                       Application will lead you to mastery
         This is especially true in a style that is ‘easy’ to get in to, like the blues. With the 
         words of B.B. King; “the blues is the easiest style to learn but the hardest to master”.
         As you’ll learn in this ebook, there are countless ways to form blues riffs and be 
         creative with them. The examples we’ll look at are there to spark your creativity in 
         your rhythm guitar playing. These chords, riffs and scales can be expanded in a 
         thousand different ways and the best way to make progress with these chords etc. is 
         to apply them in many different ways. So let’s start exploring how powerful the 
         concept of application can be to your rhythm guitar playing. Let’s start practicing for 
         mastery.
                      copyright (c) Guitar Mastery Solutions 
          I. Expanding your Rhythm Guitar Playing
                A.How to Transform your Basic Blues Riffs
          One of the features that makes the blues so fun to play is that the basic structure of a 
          standard blues progression (the so-called ‘twelve bar’) isn’t all that complex. This simplicity 
          makes this structure perfect to ‘embellish’ the chords and riffs we play.
          There are a lot of options to use these embellishments, but let’s first start with the 
          basic twelve bar progression. Listen to Example 1
          Let’s call this very easy riff ‘riff A’. The guitar part in this tablature is just one of the many 
          possible ways to play such a twelve bar. Another way to play the same twelve bar would 
          be by using seventh-chords.
          Now we’ll play the same 12 bar, but this time use these open chords. Listen to Example 2
          !          A7!    !     !     !       D7!        !    !          E7
          Play these chords over the twelve bar. You find the exact structure by looking at the chord 
          names above the measures in the ‘riff A’ progression.
          Before we’ll delve into ways to expand on these beginner riffs, it’s important that you can 
          play this right. If you can’t play this already, you need to be able to play such a basic blues 
          in riff form and in chords, before we continue.
                                    copyright (c) Guitar Mastery Solutions 
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